House icon and legend Frankie Knuckles sadly passed away seven years ago – so great was his impact on Dance music that every year his contribution is celebrated with the official Frankie Knuckles Day on 25th August.

To mark the day this year, DJ, producer, label owner and whistler supreme, Cinthie, dropped her own take on Knuckles’ eternal classic, ‘The Whistle Song‘. We spoke with one of our favourite DJs to discuss Frankie’s impact and why she was the only person right for remixing ‘The Whistle Song’. 

Cinthie, it’s so great to be doing this with you. You were one of the first people that I discovered when getting into Dance. What music did you listen to before Dance?
Thanks so much for having me. I’m trying to remember what kind of music I listened to before Dance music. I think I just listened to Pop until in 1994 one of my cousins gave me a tape mixed by a guy called Sven (Sven Väth of course) and I totally fell in love. My parents always bought these top 40 records, and I was obsessed with checking out the music. On some of them they even had tracks like Steve Silk Hurly’s ‘Jack Your Body’ or Westbam’s “Monkey Say Monkey Do”. After that I tried to dig deeper into Electronic. I especially fell in love with the early Detroit, Chicago and New York stuff with people like Paul Johnson, Joe Smooth, Ralphie Rosario, Bobby Konders, Chez Damier, Armando, Kerri Chandler, Frankie Knuckles etc.

We are of course here today to discuss  the legend that was Frankie Knuckles. Sadly, he passed away in 2014 – did you get the chance to work with him?
Unfortunately, I never met him personally, but I attended many parties where he was playing. He’s been one of my role models. Also, I own a lot of his productions and felt very very honoured when I was asked to remix ‘The Whistle Song’.
Funny story behind it is that I’m always making jokes about how I always whistle while playing. I don’t know why but it seems to be a tick or something so when I announced I was gonna remix the ‘The Whistle Song’, everyone said, ‘OK. It was quite clear you were gonna remix that song because you are very well known as a live whistler when you play records!’ Hahaha.

How did you come to remix ‘The Whistle Song’? What is it about Frankie’s music that continues to keep his music relevant?
I’m friends with his old manager Simon and after Frankie died, they began re-releasing all of his music with fresh remixes. I believe that I made myself a little bit of a name for good house music in the scene and treat a classic with a lot of respect (it’s not the only classic I’ve remixed btw), so he sent me the request and of course I said yes.
It was quite clear that I would keep the iconic whistle sample and build something around it. When I produced it, I was really into pianos and with a little help by my good friend Fabian who is a piano pro, we got that piano right. He always helps me to correct notes etc because I’m not the best player. After this, it was quite easy to finish the rest with a nice bassline, a pad and of course the whistle sample.
I’m not so sure what it is about the music that makes it so timeless. It’s maybe the groove that never gets old and lets people move their hips on the dance floor. And then of course Frankie’s personality.

I know you have been DJing since the 90s. I am sitting here listening to your HE.SHE.THEY guest mix in 2021. (Side note: I love it. Loleatta Holloway is playing as I write this. Haha.) What has surprised you most about your journey with Dance music since you began? What is the biggest change you have seen happen since you started?
The biggest change I see now unfortunately, is that a lot of the pop attitudes what we all hated or had enough of back in the day is now taking over in dance. I know dance music is a million-dollar business now and it’s all about the marketing and the pictures and the videos these days. But I truly believe it will kill the vibe one day if we are all only hunting the money. I might sound like an old lady and yes, that’s what I am maybe, but sometimes I miss the times when you could just have an argument with someone in a record store and then you both thought about it, apologised, and had a shot later at the bar in a club. Things were solved personally and not on the internet. I miss the times when you needed skills and you needed to make dope records to become well known. I might be the last one standing with this kinda old school mentality, but I try to keep it safe for as long as I can. Apart from that I did not experience any surprises ahaha.

I know you only play vinyl sets. Did you ever imagine vinyl would have the comeback it is currently experiencing?
Oh, never did I imagine that vinyl would have such a strong come back. Around 2006 or 2007 everyone told me that soon I would not be able to play anymore because there would be no records pressed for me. Glad they were all wrong. I believe people can play what they want but personally I prefer vinyl, it’s just more fun for me and since I have the store it would be funny to only play digital.

I feel you are one of the well-connected DJs in Dance! If I see you following someone, I’ve discovered on Soundcloud or IG then that is a sign I need to follow too. I always see you as someone who champions upcoming DJs. How important is this support for you and who championed you when you started out?
Oh wow, big thanks for that compliment. I really appreciate it. I love to discover new artists, especially new producers which I will sign to my labels. Over the past years a release on my label has really been a door opener for some now well-known artists and I love that. I wish I had the same support when I was younger…well, I had similar support of course. So, I can’t complain. I was heavily supported by the guys who run Humpty records back in the day where I started working around 1996.

I recently played your track ‘Just Us’ to one of my friends and he is now equally obsessed. The build-up is so good. My friend is convinced you have a white label vocal from Beth Ditto on this track. Can you settle the debate once and for all – is the vocal Beth Ditto?!!
Oh haha, now that you say it, it really sounds like Beth hahaha but I believe it’s not. It’s from a royalty free sample pack from a website called Splice. Unfortunately, I’m the worst singer in the world hence I always have house vocal samples. Booo….but I’d love to try a collab with Beth…so Beth, when you read this, call me!

For me, 90s club anthems will always hold a special place in my heart. Tracks like Blue Pearl ‘Naked In The Rain’ and De’Lacy ‘Hideaway’ always transport me to happy times. Which track from this era is a standout for you?
If I had to name one, then it would be Kim English ‘Night life’. This track summed everything up for me back then.

Last of all Loverboy is named after the biggest-selling single of 2001. So, I end every interview by asking what is your favourite Mariah Carey track?
Oops for some reason I had Steve Bugs’ Loverboy track in mind but now that you say it, of course it was a big hit for Mariah. I’m a big big fan of vocals, unfortunately some years ago they were always seen as too soft or only accepted in the gay scene. I believe we are missing a lot of good vocals with a deep meaning. So bring back Lisa Stansfield, Kim English, Loleatta Holloway and other Divas to the dance floors. Regarding my fav Mariah song, I think I danced my ass off to ‘Heartbreaker’ back in the day!

Cinthie’s remix of Frankie Knuckles’ ‘The Whistle Song’ is out now!
Click here to listen.
Cinthie Instagram / Soundcloud